SHARON POWERS SIVERTSEN NAMED DIRECTOROF FDIC'S NEW OFFICE OF POLICY DEVELOPMENT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEPR-2-96 (1-23-96)

Sharon Powers Sivertsen has been selected by the Board of
Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to be the
first Director of the FDICs new Office of Policy Development
(OPD).

Prior to this new appointment, Ms. Sivertsen, 38, served as
the FDIC's Assistant General Counsel for Closed Bank Litigation and
Policy. As director of OPD, she will coordinate policy development
among all FDIC divisions and offices, evaluate the policy
implications of regulatory and legislative proposals affecting the
FDIC, and formulate corporate positions on emerging policy issues
that could impact the FDIC. She will report to Leslie Woolley, the
Deputy to the Chairman for Policy.

"Sharie Sivertsen brings to this new office excellent
analytical skills developed in the private sector as well as within
the FDIC. She is a strong manager with proven skills in developing
balanced positions on complex issues. We are very fortunate she
will be heading the new Office of Policy Development," FDIC
Chairman Ricki Helfer said.

Ms. Sivertsen joined the FDIC in 1988, initially working on
matters relating to open banks but subsequently moving into the
agency's Appellate Litigation Section. In 1990, she joined the
FDIC's Closed Bank Litigation and Policy Section, where she has
served as Assistant General Counsel since 1992.

Before joining the FDIC, Ms. Sivertsen was with the Washington,
D.C.-based law firm of Finkelstein, Thompson & Loughran. She worked
primarily on securities and commodities litigation and corporate
finance matters. She received her juris doctor degree from Duke
University Law School and graduated summa cum laude with a degree
in political science from Boston College.

Ms. Sivertsen is married and has one child.

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Congress created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in 1933
to maintain public confidence in the nation's banking system. The
FDIC insures deposits at the nation's 12,000 banks and savings
associations and it promotes the safety and soundness of these
institutions by identifying, monitoring and addressing risks to
which they are exposed.